U.S. Army Implements New War Training Regime

The U.S. Army National Guard is currently implementing a new mobilization training strategy that has never been tried before. The idea is to have the soldiers who are facing deployment in the near future begin to undergo their mobilization training during their monthly drill dates and over their annual training before they head off to their official mobilization training. Mobilization training is a six-month training course that Soldiers who are getting deployed undergo immediately before going to the area in which they will be stationed at overseas. Under this new system the soldier's training should be cut down to three months. The new training system will allow the soldiers to stay in country longer before they get deployed. The object is to shorten the soldier's time in active duty. Soldiers are considered under active duty once they leave for their mobilization training. The new system will also save the government money, as the soldiers will not have to undergo a six-month mobilization regime, as has been the norm up until now. Conducting mobilization training this way is a much more efficient use of the soldier's time and the government's money. Which also translates into a better use of taxpayers' money. The Army is also going to start a true rotation process which will bring fresh soldiers into Iraq and give the soldiers who have been deployed to Iraq two or three times, or who have been extended while over there a much needed break and will allow them to remain home longer. With all the soldiers who have been deployed while in this fight against terror, there is a surprising number of those who have yet to set foot on foreign soil.

The new training system is currently being implemented for the first time in the history of the Army and I think we can all say, "It's about time". As a proud Army wife, I must say that I am in favor of the new system, and so is my husband who is a guinea pig undergoing the transitional training for deployment. While we are all hoping this war ends sooner than later, all the Army families out there take joy, as this new regiment will keep our soldiers in country and close to home longer. Whether this is something the Army plans to do for all future deployments is not known at this time, or at least not known to us. Let's only hope this system works. Better yet, let's hope we will not be in this war long enough to find out.